Getting Hitched

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Source: Dustinland

Wedding Garments in Divisoria

After the text we received from Inaki's lawyer, we went to Divisoria to scout around for wedding suppliers. There are a lot of sewers and clothing vendors in the market place along Ilaya St. I went to random vendors in Yangco market and in Tutuban Center.

Here's what I have so far:

Initial Canvass of Garments (in Php)	Qty	Randylene’s Barong Center (Tutuban Center)	JB’s Bridal Boutique & Souvenir Shop (Yangco Market)	Melda (Tutuban Center)
Wedding Gown	1	6,500 (organza?)	4,500 (organza?)	4,500 (organza) 5,000 (piña organza) 7,500 (duchess silk)
Groom’s Barong (Piña Jusi)	1	1,500	800	1,500
Mother’s Gown	2	1,500	1,000	1,200
Father’s Barong+Brother’s	3	1,500	800	1,500
Maid of Honor	1	1,500	700	1,000
Bridesmaid’s Dress	3	1,500	700	1,000
Best Man	1	500	300	350
Groomsmen’s Barong (Organza)	3	500	300	350

Others gave me a collective quote of Php30k for the whole entourage.

Hmmm, that's almost 1/3 of our total budget.

We'll definitely go back and canvass some more.

News From the Lawyer

"Hi Inaki, I've been assured by my insider contacts that the decision in our case is favorable. Please prepare [details deleted].... The rest of my fees will be due after we finish with the NSO."

Translation? Annulment granted!

90 Days

We just got word from the lawyer that the 90-day wait for the decision officially started last friday.

Thank heavens it's 90 calendar days instead of 90 working days. This means the decision is due by 10th of May instead of July and August.

A wedding this year is getting dimmer and dimmer by the second.

I'm bummed out, but I'd rather wait than not have the annulment granted.

Restaurant

For the past week, we've been loosely discussing how we will plan our wedding. We're trying to cut down on the costs, and one alternative is to have a breakfast buffet instead of the usual luncheon or dinner. I've asked a friend who's a chef, to give us a quotation for a breakfast buffet that includes an egg station, a coffee bar, tea service, fruit juice station, assortment of breads, rice, breakfast meat, and fresh fruits. I hope she can email it to us the soonest possible time. I like the idea that we can finish the ceremony and reception before lunch. Then we can spend the rest of our wedding day however we like.



Tonight, we had dinner at a quaint restaurant in QC. I asked for packages for weddings. It was very manageable. Plus we love their food (translation: yummy!), and the decor is very cozy and charming. We are 90% inclined to have our reception there. :)

Let's just hope the annulment gets granted.

Our First Mini-Bridal Fair

Today, by accident, Inaki and I stumbled on a mini-bridal fair. It wasn't much. But I got away with an idea of how much catering costs, venue rental, and even how much wedding bands costs. I collected brochures and print outs of their packages; and a bride's yellow pages where all possible wedding vendors are listed. I wasn't interested in photography because we've already made our top three choices on whom we want to get: (in order of priority) Red Mango, Dino Lara and Mimi & Karl.

Based on what we saw, Inaki and I decided that we are going to have a morning wedding followed by a breakfast reception. We were thinking of having the ceremony at 7am, followed by a breakfast buffet at Balay Kalinaw or a similar venue. The kind of buffet we had in mind will have a pancake/waffle station, an egg station, a wide variety of breads, rice and breakfast viands such as bacon and bangus. There will be fresh fruits, and chocolate, coffee and tea services. We're hoping this would be cheaper considering it's not as much preparation as the normal dinner. My project now is to see if the caterers we saw (Hizon's, VS&F, Albergus) are capable of preparing that kind of buffet. If not were thinking of tapping Inaki's friend, Henry, or a friend of ours from a well-known culinary school. We still want our cake to come from Estrel's. For the souvenirs to be small versions of our wedding cake or elaborate cupcakes. Either that or if I can prevail on a friend to give us personalized m&m's to serve as our wedding favors instead.

The attire will be beach themed. Something in the line of white linen long sleeved tops for the men, flowing cotton dresses for the girls, sandals or flip flops for the feet.

I want to wear a red pair of mary jane crocs instead of frilly satin shoes on my wedding.

Anyway, there's another bridal fair that we're attending on February and another in May.

I really hope we can push through with the wedding this year.

Waiting

Two weeks ago or so, the printed transcript was released and Inaki's lawyer was instructed to file a request for the decision from the court. After the motion has been filed, the official 90-day wait starts.

At the latest, we will get a decision by March.

Although the lawyer said that the judge was known for being fast in issuing decisions.

I take this with a grain of salt, particularly with all the delays.

In any case, I hope it's released soon so that the follow up paperwork can be done.